


Nibblet of Love

by neko_fish



Series: Nibblet of Love [1]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Canon Compliant, Comedy, F/F, Gen, M/M, Sara Wakes Up Early, Scott is a Goober, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-26 11:25:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12058011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neko_fish/pseuds/neko_fish
Summary: Scott Ryder may have the body of a burly engineer, but he has the heart of a small, timid woodland creature.





	Nibblet of Love

**Author's Note:**

> I finished my latest playthrough for...research

There are things Scott Ryder is good at.

He’s getting pretty damn good at being a pathfinder.

He’s learned to be a decent diplomat (even with his sarcasm and flippant remarks).

He’s a _natural_ at being a nuisance to the Archon ( _especially_ with his sarcasm and flippant remarks).

And then there are the things he can’t seem to no matter how hard he tries.

He can’t snap his fingers.

He can’t fish because their scales feel icky.

He can’t deal with personal problems in a mature, healthy way that doesn’t result in a lifetime’s worth of embarrassment and regret.

Which is why he’s been trying to avoid one Reyes Vidal for weeks now.

\--

It all starts off well enough. Mission, intel, rescue, all in all, very standard—strictly professional. And if there was a substantial amount of flirting, well, the mission’s not going to complete itself so why not have fun with it? If he can flirt at Evfra, he can flirt with anyone.

But then Reyes went and asked him to look into these murders and it’s like he _cares_ about the well-being of Kadara port and all its misfits (on top of already being handsome and charming and funny) and objectively speaking, Scott never stood a chance.

He really should be focusing on more pressing things like the kett, planet viabilities, or even diplomatic relations with the Angara. But no, here he is walking through the slums of Kadara, hiding behind Jaal and Vetra because they’re the tallest crew members he has and less likely to rush head first towards the slightest hint of battle than Drack.

“Are you going to be like this the whole time we’re here?” Vetra asks, both unimpressed and amused.

“Only until we get out of the slums,” he promises quietly, eyes scanning the area.

There’s a sisterly sigh. “Are all human infatuations like this?”

Scott looks up and glares at the back of the turian’s head. “Infatuation is such a strong word,” he says instead of answering because calling it a ‘crush’ doesn’t make it any better.

Vetra shrugs, unmoved by his plight. “Where I come from, we call it a nibblet of love if that makes it any easier to swallow.”

“Aww, that’s so cute and no, that doesn’t help at all because that’s not what this is.”

“Is the hiding part of the courtship for humans?” Jaal asks, ignoring his words and entirely too pleased at the revelation of his situation. He glances back with a smile and this is the happiest Scott’s ever seen him on Kadara. “Your face is turning very red, Scott. Is this also part of the courtship display? Like the human version of a plumage display?”

He can feel the blush spreading to his ears and down the back of his neck. “Nope, this is just me wanting to hide away somewhere for the rest of my life.”

Jaal’s smile disappears into a very concerned frown. A very sad and concerned frown. “You’re ashamed of it? But love is such a beautiful thing.”

Great, now it’s escalated to love.

Before he can answer, from behind them, there comes a familiar “You look like you’re hiding from someone.”

Scott nearly jumps out of his armour as he whirls around only to see one very handsome and very amused Reyes Vidal. Standing up straight, he crosses his arms and waves in what he hopes is a casual manner. Judging by Vetra’s snort, it’s anything but. “Hey Reyes, what brings you here?”

“You didn’t answer my message so I thought I’d see if I’d be able to catch sight of the rare and elusive pathfinder before he left our lovely planet,” Reyes says with a smirk.

Jaal lets out a scoff and rolls his eyes. “Lovely.”

He smiles. Or, he hopes he smiles. His face feels far too hot for him to be in full control of it. “Sorry, I haven’t checked my comms yet. I’ve been told to keep it somewhere safe in case I accidentally drop it into a puddle of sulphur like Peebee did.”

Reyes nods slowly, playing along. “It’d certainly be a shame if I were to lose contact with you.”

 _“Pathfinder, I have direct access to your communications hub. Should you ever need, I am able to provide you with notifications and readings of your messages,”_ SAM supplies helpfully.

“Right, yes,” he says quickly in response to both everything and nothing. “We need to go bobbing for dead bodies around sulphuric lakes so we can scan them before they turn into a big ol’ pile of goo.” Not unlike himself. “Sorry, but we’ve got to jet. Let’s catch up next time though.”

Vetra shoots him a look and he’s not sure if it’s because of his hasty exit or because he used the word ‘jet’ in said hasty exit. Jaal looks hopelessly confused; probably because the phrase didn’t translate very well in Angaran.

“Of course. I’d never keep you from your duties,” Reyes says, all smiles and flirty winks as he turns and starts walking towards the general direction of Tartarus. “Until next time then, Pathfinder.”

After a long moment, Scott asks, “...did I really say everything I think I just said?”

“Which part? Bobbing for dead bodies, big ol’ pile of goo, or needing to ‘jet’?” Vetra asks, complete with air quotation marks.

“I’m not sure I entirely understood the meaning of that,” Jaal says.

Chuckling, Vetra shakes her head. “Don’t worry. We can do a cultural lesson on outdated Milky Way slang when we get back to the Tempest.”

“Oh god.”

 _“Pathfinder, you seem distressed,”_ SAM points out.

“I’m going to be sick.”

Jaal sniffs disdainfully. “Must be the Kadara air. This planet is trash.”

\--

It’s not like his interests are unrequited, if Reyes’ flirting and well-timed messages are anything to go by. If anything, it’s all _very_ requited and if Scott ever mustered enough wits and dignity to move forward with it, all signs pointed to things working out for the better.

It’s just that _feelings_.

And _so many_ of them.

Sara wouldn’t have any issues with this, he muses, nursing his drink and sulking on the balcony of Kralla’s Song.

She’d butt heads and match wits.

She’d somehow be both goofy and suave.

She’d get right in there and go for it with all the gusto of their father and the charm of their mother.

Scott adores his sister and is endlessly grateful that they don’t share the same taste in people.

Because he’d never win.

Despite this, he hopes Sara will wake up soon—even if it means he’ll never hear the end of his nibblet of love for Reyes.

Umi slides over a new drink without prompt and he can see why Drack likes this place so much. Even though he’s racking up quite a tab, the drinks come when he needs and Umi doesn’t care about him as a person enough to comment on his personal life (unless paid to do so).

Unlike Liam.

“Alright, bro, spill.”

Scott looks down at his drink and shakes his head. “I’d rather not. Drinks here aren’t cheap.”

Liam laughs. “Very funny.”

Pleased with his joke, he smiles. “It was, thank you.”

“C’mon, man, the whole crew knows about it already. Keep it in your pants or out. It’s simple. Why do you keep running?”

“I didn’t realize that I was the highlights reel of a spectator sport. And I’m not running. I just happen to have things to do,” he retorts dryly. Then for emphasis, he adds, “Important _Pathfinder_ things to do.”

Liam rolls his eyes. “Right, I don’t doubt that.” Then he pauses. “Here’s your chance to prove it. On your three. You gonna run?”

He glances over to see Reyes walking towards the upper railing and quickly hisses, “I don’t run.”

“Uh huh.” Arching a brow, Liam crosses his arms and waits.

The good thing about Kadara Port is that there are crimes committed all day every day, anywhere everywhere. It’s not a good thing for the public and the Initiative, but it’s great for finding an excuse to leap off the terrace of the bar without his jump jet.

Looking out, he spots a mugging down below and quickly shouts, “Hey, you down there! You stop that right now!”

Never one to sit out on any sort of fight, Drack comes barrelling over with glee. “What’s happening, kid? Is it a fight? I want in!”

Liam crosses his arms. “You’re gonna run.”

“I don’t run,” he repeats.

“Right. Just got things to do.”

“Important Pathfinder things,” he confirms, downing the rest of his drink.

Without needing any cues, Drack follows him over the ledge with a cackle. On the way out, he glances back and spots Reyes who winks and blows him a kiss.

Face reddening, he runs.

To Umi’s credit, she doesn’t spare them a glance before turning to Liam. “So I take it you’ll be footing their bills?”

\--

It’s not his fault he gets shy around the person he has a nibblet of love for. And it’s definitely not his fault if he’s caught off guard and happens to squawk at the sight of Reyes inside the security gates.

Peebee glances from him to Reyes and back to him and goes, “ _Ohhh_ , it’s your nib—”

He promptly covers her mouth with his hand and tries unsuccessfully to play it off as a playful gesture. Unhelpfully, Cora covers her snickering with a cough.

“Hello, Scott.”

Given his tendency to blush whenever Reyes opens his mouth, he almost wishes the atmosphere on Kadara was a little less suitable for humans because then he’d at least have an excuse to wear his helmet and hide his face.

“Hey Reyes,” he returns. “How can I help you on this fine day?”

Somewhere above them, a storm cloud hovers and thunders ominously.

Scott hopes they’re going to talk business. He has no problem interacting with Reyes when it’s for a job. Because he is a professional, sort of.

“Fine isn’t how I’d describe it but it’s certainly a fitting adjective for you,” Reyes purrs.

Peebee gags and Cora hides hers with another cough.

Not for business then.

In record time, he goes right back to being the bumbling mess that is Scott Ryder. Rubbing the back of his neck, he mutters, “Thank you? You too? I mean, you look fine, or, yeah, very fine? Good? You look good?”

All eyes are now on him and the deep, deep verbal grave he’s dug himself.

Next time, he’ll use his jump jet and vault over the fence instead of going through the station.

“You’re not busy?” he tries again.

Reyes shoots him a smile that is all fondness and affection. “I always have time for you.”

That’s all it takes to render him incapable of speech. Luckily, Cora steps in and saves him from further and inevitable embarrassment. “Hate to cut the fun short but shouldn’t we be going? There’s a vault that needs reactivating, _Pathfinder_.”

“Oh yeah, I guess I should…” not wanting to say ‘jet’ again, he settles for, “vault.”

What he really should do is throw himself at the closest fiend and get mauled for his appalling performance and general word choices.

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see his crewmates make various gestures of disapproval. Even the warden looks embarrassed on his behalf.

On the other hand, Reyes seems entertained by his non-eloquence. “That sounds exciting. Do you think we’ll have to rename Sulphur Springs after this?”

Scott perks up.

This.

This he can work with.

“After the vault’s reactivated SAM says we’ll notice the change immediately. The water won’t be safe to drink just yet but it won’t burn anymore, so you, or, not you, but people in general won’t be able to dump bodies into the water anymore. Just think about it, within a year, we might be able to reintroduce fish into these waters! We could have _sushi_ again! You know, I’ve always wondered if there were fish up in the Presidium. Guess I’ll never know.”

“There aren’t,” Peebee tells him with a shrug. “Believe me. I’ve gone in and looked.”

He does a double take. “Wait, what? But...”

At this point, Cora has to bodily pull him away to keep him from continuing his rambling. “C’mon, the sooner you reset the vault, the sooner you’ll be able to have your sushi.”

Scott pouts at being dragged away when he finally has someone who’ll listen to him talk about the beauty that is terraforming. He might not be an expert on the subject, but he’s friends with Suvi and can appreciate the intricacies of it and be excited about revitalizing _entire planets_ by going on simple, life-threatening missions into mysterious vaults built by equally mysterious creators.

Looking back, there’s an unreadable look on Reyes’ face and it only deflates him further. “Looks like I have to go. I’ll see you around.”

“I’d love to hear more next time,” Reyes says with a soft, sincere smile.

Warmth flutters through his chest at the words. “Oh, okay.”

Once outside, Peebee makes a noise of disgust. “You googly eyed romantic type are so gross. The way you two look at each other is just” she pretends to vomit.

“I hate to agree with Peebee but I kind of agree with Peebee,” Cora says. “It’s cute and all but there’s a time and place for everything, Scott. And also, time to ‘vault’?”

“Bah, everyone’s a critic,” he mutters half-heartedly, his mind still elsewhere.

 _“Pathfinder, your heart rate is still elevated,”_ SAM tells him.

“Thanks, SAM. That was about as useful as you telling me how Voeld is below recommended temperatures.”

In retaliation, SAM asks, _“Would you prefer if I highlighted the spike in temperature in your erogenous regions?”_

Scott debates dipping a toe in a puddle of sulphur to distract the AI.

\--

Somewhere in between re-establishing a working relationship with the krogan and finding, rescuing, and returning the asari ark, Sara wakes up.

He’s over the moon and they return to the Nexus immediately. She hugs him and he can’t stop the tears from spilling because he doesn’t know what he would’ve done if he’d lost her too.

(He told her everything when SAM helped them speak because he couldn’t stand keeping everything to himself and thought it’d motivate her to wake up faster. On the other hand, he’s pretty sure she would’ve done the opposite to protect him from the truth even if it was for just a little bit longer.)

They stay for a week because he missed his sister and Lexi insisted that he needed to slow down and rest, which, for once, is the opposite of a problem. Sara is still bedridden but well enough to meet his crew and listen to his stories.

Before the end of the week, he finds Vetra visiting his sister almost as frequently as him.

(He’d suspected that Vetra was Sara’s type. Someone capable who’s able to both support and be supported, and with a wicked sense of humour to boot.)

On his way into the clinic, he can hear them flirting quite happily and upon seeing him, Vetra takes her leave with an easy “Hey Scott.”

Why can’t _his_ relationships with smugglers go that smoothly?

Putting aside her contraband gifts, Sara eyes him knowingly and says, “Oh no, I know that look.”

“What look?” he asks, feigning innocence.

“Your ‘I have a crush but my shyness kicked in’ look. We may have slept for 600 years but I’d still know that look anywhere, baby bro.”

“Baby bro only by like _two minutes_ ,” he protests.

Sara grins. “Still counts. Now come here and sit and tell me all about this person who you’re no doubt avoiding. Don’t give me that look. What are you gonna do? _Jet_?”

He rubs his face and groans. “Oh no. What _hasn’t_ Vetra told you?”

“Doesn’t matter, I need to hear it from you, Scotty,” she says, patting the side of her bed.

So Scott sits down and tells her everything, and being the supportive sister that she is, she just laughs and laughs and laughs.

\--

_Pizza?_

He narrows his eyes at the message. There’s something off about this but he can’t quite place his finger on what.

Shrugging it off, Scott makes his way to Tartarus because he’s secretly been craving pizza since he woke up.

“I was hoping you’d stop by.”

The room smells like alcohol and pepperoni pizza with faint traces of blood, sweat, and shattered dreams wafting in from the outside.

“What can I say? You had me at pizza.” Scott can feel his mouth watering at the sight of the large pizza sitting on the table.

Reyes makes a sweeping gesture and says generously, “Help yourself. It’s only frozen pizza. I was hoping to find a freshly made one, but it doesn’t seem like anyone’s gotten around to that yet. Come now, take a seat. I’ll order some beer.”

“Any pizza is good pizza. I didn’t think people brought any over,” he says, helping himself to a slice as the door opens and the beer arrives. He didn’t see Reyes move and wonders how the bartender knew, but then he takes a bite and forgets everything. “Oh my god, this is _amazing_. I wish I’d thought of bringing pizza.”

“You’d stand to make a profit,” Reyes tells him with a chuckle. “Comfort foods have their own value here.”

He pauses. “Oh, right, I didn’t even think of that. How much was it? We can split the cost.”

Reyes shakes his head. “Nonsense. I already had the pizza and I was the one who requested your company. Please. This is on me.”

“Alright,” he concedes. Then he grins, easy and carefree in the presence of food. “If you’re not careful, you’ll spoil me rotten.”

Grinning, Reyes leers at him. “That’s the idea.”

Feeling bold, Scott returns the grin. “If that’s the case, I might just put in a request for nachos next time.”

“You’re a hard man to please, Scott Ryder.”

He really likes the way his name rolled off the other man’s tongue. It sends a shiver down his spine and leaves his mouth dry. Taking a drink, he shrugs. “So it has been explained to me.”

“But then again, maybe you just haven’t met the right people.”

“Oh? And would you say you’re the right people, Reyes?”

In the back of his mind, there’s a miniature Scott convulsing on the ground due to shock and disbelief because _what is he doing_?

Reyes leans back and smirks. “I’d say so. I’ve been known to...please people.”

“Well, you’ve certainly pleased me,” he says, quickly reining it back. It’s a good thing the lights are so dim here because he can only imagine what horrible shade of red his face must be. “I’ve been thinking about pizza since I woke up.”

Taking it in stride, Reyes merely laughs. “It’s a good thing I invited you then. I’ll have to see what I can do about finding those nachos for you.”

\--

The problem with his crew is that they’re all exactly like family. And by that, he means they’ll prod and tease him with the same level of remorse as Sara.

Zero.

“Now orbiting Kadara.”

“Oh, what do you think you’ll get to eat this time, Ryder?” Kallo asks.

“Do you think anyone brought kale chips over?” Suvi chimes in. “Or maybe tea leaves? I’m fresh out.”

“Let me in on this if you’re taking requests,” Gil chimes in over the comms.

Scott narrows his eyes. “What am I? The Tempest’s mule?”

“The Tempest’s _pathfinding_ mule,” Suvi corrects him, enthusiastically and not unkindly.

“Ah yes, it’s so nice to see the respect this title commands,” Scott deadpans.

“C’mon, Ryder! What’s the point in making connections if you’re not gonna use them?” Gil asks. “That’d be like _not_ goading people into going all in on poker night.”

“Don’t let Cora hear you or she might punch you through a wall,” Suvi laughs.

He rolls his eyes. “Should I start a shopping list while I’m at it?”

Kallo chuckles. “You probably shouldn’t tempt them.”

“Yeah, they’d all definitely take me up on the offer,” he sighs.

 _“Pathfinder, you have a new message,”_ SAM chimes.

Opening up his email, he reads:

_Bacon?_

\--

“Reyes is a better man than you think!” he says with all the conviction he has.

And it’s not just because Reyes feeds him.

And it’s definitely not the way Reyes looks at him like he single-handedly hung all the stars in the sky after he says that.

“Oh, honey, you’ve no idea how wrong you are. But you will,” Zia says and he does not care for that at all.

“Leave him out of this!”

It’s rare to see Reyes raise his hackles like that and even Scott has to raise a brow at it.

A chuckle. “You must really like this one, Reyes.”

He has very mixed feelings about this.

The skirmish doesn’t last very long. Most fights don’t when they involve a Ryder and guns.

Sure, it’s kind of awkward, fighting and killing the ex of the guy he’s got a nibblet of love for, but hey, stranger things have happened since he arrived in Andromeda. Like dying, becoming a pathfinder, the rebellion, the kett, finding fiends on every planet, and even the motley crew he calls his own.

“What you said back there...about me being a better man? Thank you,” Reyes tells him on his way out. He looks sincere, awed.

“You’re welcome,” he answers with a light shrug. It’s not like he would’ve said it if it wasn’t true.

Reyes sends him an email after when he returns to the Tempest and it’s all he can think about for a week.

\--

It must speak volumes about his naivety that he doesn’t realize exactly what’s been nagging him about his setup with Reyes until Vetra asks, “Do you think that’d work with Sara? Does she like cow? I think I saw a cow packet on the Nexus before.”

To be fair, he knew what Reyes was doing (and what an effective strategy it was) but he hadn’t connected it with whom he got the idea from.

“Sara, you are the worst,” he whines into the vidcon. He doesn’t care if the others can hear. In fact, he hopes they’re all listening in on this.

They should all know that his sister is the absolute worst.

Not missing a beat, she laughs. “Sure, go and eat all this amazing Milky Way food and complain to me about it. You have my sincerest sympathy, Scotty.”

When she puts it like that, he does sound kind of ungrateful. “When did you even get the chance to get in touch with him?”

“It was more like he got in touch with me and asked me about you. Do you ever think about how we made it to Andromeda but still have such shoddy vidcons? I mean, it’s not even in full colour. Do I sound like a geth? Because you kind of do. Even the ones in the Milky Way were better.”

“Oh yeah, you’re right. I’ll be thinking about this every time I get a call now, thanks. But don’t change the subject! I thought you were on my side,” he mutters.

She arches a brow. “Side? I didn’t realize this was a fight to the death and not a nibblet of love. I merely dispensed advice to those who sought it.”

Scott runs a hand through his hair. “And what kind of ‘advice’ did you dispense, O Tiny One?”

He may have a bit of an inferiority complex, but Sara has a height one. “Haha, laugh it up, baby bro. I go and get you fed and this is what I get in return.”

“All’s fair in siblings’ affairs. But really, what’d you tell him?”

Sara shrugs. “The same thing I tell everyone who asks me about you: he may have the body of a burly engineer, but he has the heart of a small, timid woodland creature.”

He laughs. “You didn’t really say that. Actually, no, those were probably the exact words you used. Wait, people ask about me?”

“Sure, all the time? You want a list? I can compile it in chronological order and by species if you want. I have the time,” she offers. “Your head was always too far up in the clouds to notice these things, Scotty.”

“So you act as my human filter.”

She shakes her head. “Not really. Did you want me to? Should I interrogate them and ask their intentions? Maybe I should create a fillable application form! Section 1: Personal Information. Section 2: Sexual History. Section 3: Dowry. Section 4: _Personal_ Personal Information.”

As much as Scott wants to laugh along, Sara has far too much time on her hands and he can see this happening. “Please don’t.”

Sara lets out an exaggerated sigh. “Fine, ruin all my fun. I guess I’ll just say my line, sit back, and enjoy the show. You’re a big boy now, you can handle yourself. And if you can’t, let me know and I’ll charge them off a cliff.”

“Even though I have the body of a burly engineer?” he teases.

“It’s your small, timid woodland creature heart that brings out my protective streak.”

He smiles. “I can’t wait for you to join us out here, Sara.”

If she was there with him, she would’ve given him a hug. But as it is, he’ll have to make do with an imaginary one from this shoddy vidcon. “Give me a couple weeks and I’ll make you eat your words, Scotty.”

Scott adores his sister.

\--

He kisses Reyes Vidal in a storage room.

As a distraction.

And because it’s been a long time coming.

The location and audience weren’t really what he had in mind, but Scott Ryder is nothing if not adaptable. When Reyes kisses him back, he remembers exactly none of these thoughts.

Following this, Reyes goes in and pulls out a pricy one-of-a-kind vintage bottle of whiskey and grins triumphantly at him from the top of the pile of crates.

“Don’t tell me this is where you’ve been getting all the food you’ve been feeding me,” he quips, leaning casually against the stack.

“I would never,” Reyes says, affronted. “Sloane may have decent alcohol, but she might as well feed her people dirt.”

“That’d never do for my poor, small woodland creature stomach,” he says.

Whatever Umi gave him is turning out to be literal liquid courage because sitting on Sloane’s throne? No big deal. Easy, casual banter with Reyes without food or any immediate danger? Unthinkable.

He’ll have to leave her a large tip next time.

Reyes arches a brow and grins, slowly climbing back down. “Talked to your sister, did you? Damn, she foiled my devilish plans.”

“Oh yeah? What was the end game? Hand feeding me grains?” It comes out sounding more like a challenge than he intends.

“Grains? No. For you, my little woodland creature? Nothing but the very best. I was going to handpick the berries myself.”

“I didn’t know berries grew on Kadara,” Scott says with a stupid grin.

He’s pretty sure another kiss is imminent, but then they hear footsteps approaching from down the hall and both jump to attention. Exchanging glances, the two of them go running off hand in hand while giggling and shoving at each other like schoolboys.

As a testament to how strong Umi’s drink was, the whiskey he shares with Reyes actually sobers him up. The mood on the roof is quiet and intimate, and it must be the drink talking but Scott really wants an excuse to do just a little more kissing.

“Why are you here, Reyes?” he asks softly.

Reyes furrows his brows in thought for a moment. “To be someone.”

He turns around. “...you’re someone to me.”

A quiet chuckle. “I’m starting to think that kiss was more than just a distraction.”

There’s more kissing and Scott is very pleased with the result.

\--

Walking towards Tartarus, Scott wishes he had his tallest crew members to hide behind—not out of shyness (not after making out on a roof) but out of reluctance. This isn’t exactly in his list of top ten things he enjoys doing, but he’s an adult.

And sober.

“We kissed.”

“ _Twice_ ,” Reyes adds, sounding very pleased.

“Shouldn’t we talk about it?”

A chuckle. “I’d rather keep you guessing.”

Scott blinks. That’s not what he’d been expecting, but before he can ask further, Reyes moves onto a different subject.

For once, he leaves the room with a gut full of confusion and disappointment instead of food.

\--

It’s all good and great and he manages to fight off three fiends by running and blindly shooting behind him for about an hour. New Tuchanka is established, much to Tann’s displeasure, and he manages to rescue Drack’s grandson in-law. Just another typical week on Elaaden.

Then he gets called back to Kadara by Sloane and everything falls apart.

Between being called ‘princess’ by Sloane and ‘honey’ by Zia and ‘Little Duck’ by Bain, he doesn’t know which he likes the least.

“You look like you’re waiting for someone.”

Oh no.

“I’m here for the Charlatan, not some third-rate smuggler.”

“They’re one and the same.”

“Surprise.”

He is.

And not in a way he ever wanted to feel.

His throat is tight and his heart drops to his stomach. He may be stupid at times, but he didn’t think he was an idiot.

“This whole time you’ve been lying to me,” he grits out, fists clenched.

“Not about everything. You know who I really am,” Reyes insists.

Scott isn’t so sure.

The duel happens and SAM tells him about the sniper. He doesn’t know why he doesn’t move in to save Sloane when he’d spent all his time on Kadara carefully remaining a neutral third party. She falls with a groan and realization in her eyes and he doesn’t know how he feels about any of this.

Reyes starts barking orders at his people— _the Collective_ to clear the evidence, and Scott wonders how he failed to see this from the very beginning.

Maybe he just didn’t want to.

“I guess you got everything you wanted.”

“What I want is peace. Sloane would’ve brought war to Heleus. We don’t have the population to survive that.”

It’s all logic and business but what Scott wants right now is the opposite.

“Why didn’t you trust me?”

“I...liked the way you looked at me,” Reyes admits, uncharacteristically hesitant. “I was afraid that would change.”

For a moment, he can see his options clearly:

  1.            Call Reyes out, return the hurt twofold, end everything and storm out angrily.
  2.            Reassure Reyes, be teased about his taste in men, and get pressed up against the cavern wall and kissed within an inch of his life.



But because he’s not the Pathfinder for nothing, he decides to go with a hidden third option.

“I need some time to think,” he says quietly, ducking his head and exiting the cave.

\--

Avoiding Kadara becomes a new pastime. The good thing about being Pathfinder is that there’s always an endless platter of people to help and things needing to be done. Excuses come easy in Andromeda. All he has to do is reach out and pluck a nice, ripe excuse off the excuses tree and bake himself a little excuse pie.

Reyes doesn’t message him and he doesn’t visit. Instead, he goes planet to planet, scanning and probing, helping around and blowing things up.

And then Scott dies.

Again.

From what little he remembers from the first time, past experience doesn’t make it any better.

They find Meridian’s location, face more hard choices, more A’s or B’s. He makes the calls and does his best to swallow them without regret, but even before the salarian ark escapes, he knows this particular mission will haunt him for years to come.

The Tempest returns to the Nexus with the Paachero and while everyone is celebrating, Scott is whisked off to the med-bay. He insists he’s fine, but Lexi is having none of it.

“The ship’s equipment is good but it’s not as comprehensive as the Nexus’. Come on, the recently resurrected need rest,” she chides.

To his delight, he’s in the bed next to Sara and the two exchange grins while their respective physicians massage their temples at the impending nightmare they’re about to face.

“At this rate, I might get discharged before you do. Did you really have to die again, Scotty? You know, even most religious icons only ever die and come back once. Are you trying to make it a thing?” Sara asks.

“Dying? No. Never. It’s actually very tiring. Zero out of ten would recommend. I did what I had to. How did you—” Realizing it to be a stupid question before the rest of the words tumble out of his mouth, he sighs instead, “News sure travels fast.”

Sara shrugs. “Vetra’s nothing if not reliable. Wanna talk about it?”

“Which part? The ark?”

“Let’s start from where we left off with our last vidcon,” Sara suggests, “though I guess there’s pretty sensitive information involved. Maybe we should go to dad’s room to talk.”

“You two aren’t going anywhere,” Lexi cuts in.

“But Lexi!” they both whine.

The doctor rolls her eyes, a mixture of exasperation and fondness. “Goddess, and here I thought working with a family of batarians was rough. They don’t hold a candle to a pair of Ryders,” she tells Harry.

He chuckles. “Just wait until they’re both out in the field.”

Sulking, Sara slumps down further in her bed while Scott is subjected to tests. “Guess we’ll have to start with the recent stuff and work our way back.”

Scott smiles the best he can and shrugs helplessly as he sticks his tongue out for Lexi. He supposes it can’t hurt to take a little break to put things back into perspective every now and then.

It shouldn’t surprise him that it takes another death to finally slow him down.

\--

Much like Architects, Kadara can’t be avoided forever, not when there’s an outpost there, and one that’s otherwise surrounded by the very outlaws they exiled. Reyes may have given his word to protect it, but as much as he wants to believe it, he’s not too sure how much that’s really worth nowadays.

So he orders the crew to descend and watches Sara run towards the exit in excitement with Vetra in tow, finally having gotten the go ahead from Harry to leave the Nexus. It feels good to have his sister on board. Seeing her light up like that almost makes Kadara tolerable.

“You look almost as miserable as Jaal,” Sara says, turning around. “And he’s been complaining since we plotted our course.”

“Must be pretty bad if I can rival an angaran. Just wait until you check out Aya,” he says with a weak smile.

Sara frowns and walks back to him. “Scotty, you gonna be okay?”

He waves her off. “I’ll be fine, Sara. I’m a big, burly engineer, remember? Go have fun. It’s about time you wreaked havoc on these colonies.”

Vetra gives him a nod. “I’ll keep her out of trouble—or, out of as much trouble as you can keep a Ryder.”

“Aww, it’s like you’re part of the family already,” he teases.

“And Scott?”

“Hmm?”

“Even if your nibblet of love doesn’t work out, you should at least demand a title. Don’t settle for anything less than a baroness,” Vetra tells him seriously.

Scott nods. “And if it works out?”

Vetra’s mandibles flare and Scott likes to think of it as a grin. “Isn’t obvious? You’ll be a pathfinder queen.”

“What would that make me?” Sara quips.

He shrugs and gives them a lazy grin. “The royal uncle, obviously. Now, shoo, you two. Go enjoy yourselves and don’t forget to pick up some popcorn for Liam’s movie night.”

The walkway drops and the pair make their getaway just as the rest of the crew slowly make their way over.

“What are the chances of us having a calm and peaceful day _without_ people shooting at us?” Cora asks with an exasperated sigh.

Scott scoffs. “With Sara here? You’d have better luck finding an oasis on Elaaden.” He spots the angaran and smiles ruefully. “You know you can stay on the ship if you want, Jaal.”

“I’m afraid of missing out,” Jaal grumbles. “You know where I’ll be: the least terrible place on this very terrible planet.”

He’s about to walk with Drack out when SAM tells him, “ _You have new email, Pathfinder._ ”

“Who’s it from?”

“ _Pathfinder Rix_.”

Scott pauses and veers off to the side terminal. “Kallo, hold the door open for a few minutes, would you? There’s something I need to do first.”

“Roger that.”

Liam looks back over his shoulder. “Ryder, you good?”

He nods. “Yeah, just got something from Avitus.”

“Pathfinder things?” Liam asks with an arched brow.

“Very important Pathfinder things,” he chuckles.

Definitely not stalling.

It only takes a couple minutes to send Avitus the information he’s looking for when SAM speaks up, “ _Scott, someone just boarded the Tempest._ ”

Closing his email, he takes a deep breath and whirls around only to come face to face with the intruder. “Reyes!?”

Reyes doesn’t answer, eyes flitting over him, searching. His brows are furrowed and there’s a frown marring his face.

Slowly, he lifts his hands and cups his face. “You’re alright,” Reyes says, more of an affirmation to himself.

A soft breath of relief.

“You’re alright.”

Oh.

“You were worried,” Scott says, stunned.

“I heard you _died_ and then you didn’t get off your ship with the rest of your crew.” A pause. “I didn’t know what else to think.”

He wonders how the news managed to spread all the way to Kadara, but then quickly realizes that it shouldn’t come as a surprise to him that Reyes has eyes and ears beyond this planet.

“Maybe I wanted to keep you guessing,” he mutters with a shrug, because he’s not above pettiness.

Reyes lets out a slow chuckle. “I suppose I deserve that.” He holds out a hand. “Come. We should talk.”

“Didn’t you say…?”

Shaking his head with an unreadable look in his eyes, Reyes tells him, “No. Not about this. Not anymore.”

Instead of going to the Tartarus, they make their way to an apartment overlooking the port. Scott raises his eyebrow. “New place?”

“Not exactly, but I prefer to spend my time elsewhere,” Reyes says with a shrug.

The inside of the apartment is Spartan. Other than the few pieces of essential furniture, there’s a bar with an impressive array of alcohol, datapads strewn all about, and hints of secret nooks and crannies on every wall.

“Welcome to my humble abode.”

Scott steps inside a little hesitantly and looks around. “If I lean against a wall the wrong way, will I get stabbed?”

Laughing, Reyes shakes his head. “Only that far wall over there.”

His eyes widen. He feels a little too vulnerable in his track pants and Blasto tank top. “Maybe I should’ve worn my armour.”

“I’ll warn you if you get too close to something,” Reyes tells him.

Scott still can’t tell if he’s joking.

Warily, he makes his way over to the couch and sits down. Back a little too straight and hands folded stiffly in his lap, he wonders what kind of image he makes sitting there.

If Reyes notices his discomfort, he doesn’t comment and takes a seat at the other end of the couch. “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, Scott.”

“Well, your title is pretty self-explanatory.” He keeps his eyes trained on his knees. “I wish you’d trusted me.”

A sigh. “The way you looked at me...I was being selfish. I thought I’d lose you, but by not telling you, it only made it worse.”

“If I hadn’t been there with Sloane that day, would you have ever told me?” he asks.

“Yes. Eventually.”

He nods slowly. “So you’re the Charlatan.”

“I am.”

“And we kissed.”

There’s a small smile in his voice. “Twice.”

“Twice,” he agrees. “Did it mean anything to you? Did any of it?”

Reyes leans over and gently turns his head to look him in the eyes. “Scott, it meant the world to me. You make me want to be a better man, but I...I am good at my job. I’m a thief and a murderer, and that’s on a good day. But if there is one thing I need you to believe—just one, it is that I would _never_ use or betray you.”

Scott searches those earnest whiskey brown eyes. “I want to believe you, Reyes,” he whispers.

“I know I didn’t exactly make it easy for you,” the other man admits.

“So what happens now?”

Reyes sits back, shoulders slumped. “That’s completely up to you. You’re free to choose. No matter what you pick, I promise that the colony will remain under my full protection.”

He smiles softly. “Thanks, Reyes.”

“I wasn’t lying when I told you that I wanted the outpost just as much as you.”

“No, I didn’t think you were. Not about that.” Scott pauses, hesitant. “If I were to give this another chance...did you really mean what you said?”

“Every word of it,” Reyes replies.

“You won’t shoot me while my back is turned?”

“Never.”

“You won’t turn the Collective against me?”

“They’d have to kill me first.”

“You won’t steal my tracker to plant your own tracker into it to follow me to a dying volcanic planet to steal an artifact from me while also actively trying to kill me with a gang of hired thugs?”

Reyes arches a brow. “That’s a very specific scenario. No, I don’t think that’s ever crossed my mind for anyone ever.”

“You won’t team up with other smugglers and lure me to the ambush site to have me killed?”

Touching their foreheads together, Reyes chuckles, “I like to think I’m more original than that, but not to you. Never to you.”

“You won’t leave me for doing my job?”

“Will you?”

Touché.

“I haven’t yet, apparently,” he mutters.

A smile. “Apparently not. If the Collective and the Initiative fight...well, we’ll work through it when the time comes.”

“Work through it, huh? That sounds pretty serious,” he teases, glancing up.

“What can I say? I’m pretty serious about you, Scott Ryder.”

Scott studies the other’s face for any sign of the contrary. He leans in for a quick kiss. “I...believe you.”

“I won’t take that for granted.” The way that smile grows on Reyes’ face does strange things to his heart, but thankfully, SAM doesn’t bring it up. “Since I left the Nexus, my survival has depended on secrets. I don’t want any more of those between us, Scott.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Reyes. You will have secrets—that’s who you are. Just don’t lie to me about the big stuff,” he chides gently.

Reyes reaches out and cups his face lightly. “Thank you.”

Leaning into the touch, he asks, “For what?”

“For accepting me.”

He shrugs and grins. “What can I say? You got me good in my small woodland creature heart.”

Another kiss.

“Speaking of which,” Reyes starts, getting up. He walks over to the kitchen and starts fiddling with something. “I was going to send this to you as a peace offering but this scenario is _much_ better.”

“A peace offering?” he asks, following behind. “From the Charlatan to the Human Pathfinder?”

Reyes makes a face. “No, in this apartment, there will be no titles—I mean, unless you’re into that kind of thing. It was an offering from Reyes Vidal to Scott Ryder.”

Peering over the other man’s shoulder, Scott bursts into laughter. “Are those berries!?”

“I handpicked them myself,” Reyes tells him proudly, holding one out for him.

He arches a brow. “Are they safe for human consumption?”

“Keema said they were edible and no one I’ve tried them on has gotten sick or died yet, so they should be safe. Nothing but the very best for my little woodland creature.”

Scott shrugs and laps the berry up. It’s a strange mix of blueberry and raspberry, but in a good way. “Got everything you wanted after all, huh?”

“Oh, not just yet, cariño,” Reyes says with a smirk.

He can feel a shiver go down his spine but manages to feign innocence. “Still?”

“I’m a greedy man.”

“Well, we kissed.”

Reyes grins and gives him a peck on the lips. “Five times now.”

“What else did you have in mind?” Scott asks, voice barely a whisper.

Taking his hand and bringing it up to his lips for a kiss, Reyes slowly leads him towards the bedroom. “I’m glad you asked. Allow me to show you—”

Outside, something explodes.

Somewhere down below, someone’s shouting something about the remaining Outcasts staging an uprising.

Cursing under his breath, Reyes mutters, “Really? Right now?”

“Oh my god.” Scott hunches over, clutching his side from laughing too hard. “Never a dull moment on Kadara,” he says between his bouts of laughter. “That was so good. Reyes, you have an excellent sense of dramatic timing.”

Reyes shoots him a fond look. “And good hair.”

He grins and tugs on the other man’s hand. “Can’t argue with that. C’mon, let’s go, you have to go take care of your people, don’t you, your Majesty?”

Scoffing, Reyes allows himself to be led towards the door. “Fine, but only if you promise to find the path back to my room after.”

Scott wrinkles his nose. “I can’t believe people gave me a hard time about having to ‘jet’; you’re _far_ worse.”

“I’ll make it up to you.” Reyes laughs and gives his hand a squeeze. “And that’s a promise I intend to keep.”


End file.
